Premium Rate Services are described by Ofcom as:

"A form of micro-payment for paid-for content, data services and value-added services that are subsequently charged to your telephone bill. They tend to cost more than a normal phone call or text message.

How do they affect me?

Premium Rate Services affect you because Premium Numbers are included in this bracket, and the calls wouldn't be included in any of our Unlimited Hosted VoIP plans that we have available. Any calls made to premium numbers would be charged at a PAYG rate, so you would need to make sure that you have credit in your account to be able to make those calls! If you didn't have sufficient balance in your account, the call wouldn't connect.

This is because Premium Numbers aren't charged like a normal call - a portion of the fee paid goes to the called business, which is why the costs are higher.

How can I avoid them?

There are a couple of ways to avoid these charges:

To be sure you're not calling a Premium Number just check the number before you make the call, which you can do with the Call Cost Checker on our site. This will show any relevant charges with the number in question, including any connection charges and the price per minute.

Numbers to watch out for

Try and avoid calling numbers beginning in 08 as these are business rate numbers, and would be charged at a premium cost. In July 2015, 08 numbers were separated into 60 different calling rate brackets, so the cost can vary! The exceptions to this are 0800 and 0808 which are freephone numbers. You can read a little more about 08 call charges here.
This is the same of 070 numbers which are classed as personal or 'Follow Me' numbers, and may be charged at a higher rate. Be wary of these, as they may look like standard mobile numbers, however they can be charged at up to £3.40 a minute!

If you need any further help today, please don't hesitate to contact our friendly support team on 0330 122 6000 or by email!